Perpetual Hope
by sunniebelle
Summary: There is nothing the Doctor can do but watch in horror as Rose puts her life in mortal danger to save the Earth, once again. Though he is desperate to find a way to save her from what the timelines are saying is inevitable, he tries to deny that he could lose his Rose forever. He soon learns that there is always hope to be found, if one knows where to look.


The Doctor was cursing himself in a multitude of languages, calling himself every type of fool. He should never have brought Rose Tyler to this wretched place! He should have refused to take her back to see her mum.

Yet, he couldn't deny her that small pleasure or the radiant smile it always brought to her face—and he was loathe to admit that he could very rarely deny her anything at all—so he had taken her back to the Powell Estate... and right into danger! More danger than she had ever been in during all her time with him. And, really, that was saying something!

"Hold on!" he shouted as he reflexively reached out for her.

He watched Rose struggle to reach the slowly descending lever while still holding onto her magnaclamp. An increasing amount of dread and panic swept through his mind and body as he watched Rose let go of the magnaclamp and grab the lever, bravely attempting to push it upright again. As soon as it was locked into position, however, the wind and suction increased dramatically; the remaining Daleks and Cybermen once again zooming through the air and into 'hell'.

Rose's body was almost immediately pulled horizontal to the floor, drawn unwillingly toward the void, a place of unspeakable horrors and never-ending nothingness. All that kept her from falling into its jaws was her two small human hands, desperately clinging to the lever.

His mind moved at an incredible speed, trying to think of some way to stop the inevitable ending, what he saw drawing nearer in the timelines. But he was completely helpless! He could do nothing to stop what was about to happen to his precious Rose. All of his knowledge, all of his superior Time Lord abilities and biology that he bragged about endlessly, every bit of it was bloody useless!

He had foolishly allowed himself to hope, to believe that this one time the universe would give him this chance to be happy; that it would be kind and give him his Rose. However, the universe was rarely ever kind, and obviously had no intention of being so today. Not to him.

Never to the Doctor.

He had too much blood on his hands for the universe to ever be kind to him, or to anyone he cared about. It seemed to relish punishing him, over and over and over again for his actions during the Time War, because of the impossible choice he had been forced to make for the sake of all creation.

The universe never let him forget that it would have its revenge. And right now, it would take it in the form of his beloved pink and yellow, kind-hearted human. In this moment—this one terrible, horrifying, hearts-stopping moment—he knew that his Rose would pay the price.

As the wind and suction in the painfully white room grew stronger, Rose struggled to grip the lever even more tightly, the void unerringly trying to pull her into its vicious, uncaring grip. But his precious girl was a fighter, a Tyler woman, strong-willed and stubborn to the end.

He watched in growing horror as Rose desperately held on to her lever, a scream of pain mixed with fear wrenched from her throat as her fragile human body was unnaturally stretched, the void's lure becoming too much for her hands to bear. With every millimeter that her grip slipped, his hearts rate quickened, his breathing now fast and shallow.

As the timelines became clearer and showed him undeniable proof of how this would end, he reached out in desperation, uselessly grasping at thin air, knowing, but adamantly denying, that he would never be able to reach her. He shouted out to her, begging her to hold on.

A spike of ice-cold fear was driven directly into his hearts, chilling his blood, his stomach twisting into an impossibly tangled knot. His hearts pounded so loud he could almost hear them over her frightened gasps and screams of pain as the pull of the void over-stretched her shoulders and arm muscles, straining her hand's death-grip.

Suddenly there was a shift in the air and a familiar blue-coated man—one the Doctor was sure he would never see again—appeared out of nowhere, stumbling into a crouch.

The man's blue eyes darted around the bright-white room in astonishment and confusion before locking eyes with the Doctor. Captain Jack Harkness' attention was quickly diverted upon hearing a cry from Rose's direction, her fingers slipping the last few centimeters on the lever.

Leaping to his feet and moving faster than seemed possible, Jack ran toward Rose.

The Doctor felt the terror in him build to a crescendo and, as her fingers slipped and she was sucked toward the void, it erupted from his throat in an unearthly scream, crying out her name as he helplessly watched his Rose fall toward hell.

Everything seemed to move in slow motion—whether it was him actually controlling time and its pace, or just how he was processing everything, the Doctor wasn't sure.

Jack flung his blue-coated arms around Rose's middle and they both fell to the floor, his body atop hers as he tried to keep her from being pulled into the void. Yet the suction on Rose was too strong and was dragging them both toward its hungry opening, and it would win very soon.

The Doctor's eyes locked with Rose's and he saw the helplessness and sorrow in her eyes, but also saw her unconditional and unfailing love for him.

Jack quickly grasped one of Rose's hands, holding it securely to a device on the top of his wrist, and pressed a button. A moment later there was a blue flash of light and shift of the air and they both vanished from the room.

In stunned silence the Doctor watched over the next few moments as the wind gradually died down, the void closing in on itself with a slurping, suction-like noise. The Doctor's feet suddenly fell to the ground, no longer being pulled on by the void.

He clung to his clamp for several more heartsbeats and glanced around the room, struggling—even with his impressive brain—to figure out what had just happened.

Suddenly, and without conscious thought, his feet were moving him toward his ship, carrying him at top speed toward his TARDIS.

Knowing he would have no patience with the lift, he tore down the stairs, setting a reckless pace. Following his ingrained sense of direction back to his ship, several minutes later he was frantically turning his key in the lock and rushing into the console room, slamming the door shut behind him.

He sent out a frantic plea to the sentient ship, asking her if Rose was aboard. He was filled with a myriad of conflicting emotions as he received a negative response.

He rushed to the console's computer, clacking away at the keys, entering information in as fast as he could to search for his current and former companion.

He read over the results several times to make sure they were correct, burgeoning hope and unspeakable joy filling his whole being at his findings.

Quickly, he ran around the console, turning knobs and pulling levers like a madman, a manic smile stretching across his face as his magnificent space and time ship hurtled through the vortex.

* * *

**Notes:** This is a Doomsday fix-it, one that has been floating around my mind for a while. It is based on the assumption that Pete did not jump back at the last moment and catch Rose when she falls. There's also a surprise appearance from one of my favorite DW characters. This will likely be two chapters (not really sure yet, so don't hold me to that! :D). If you have any questions about the story, please feel free to visit me on Tumblr! :D


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